Give it some gas!

More than a month after Blakeman Propane appeared before the Saratoga Town Council, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) approved a conditional use permit for the Wyoming-based company during their March 2 meeting on a 4-1 vote.

As was previously reported (see “But does it look nice?” on page 1 of the January 27 Saratoga Sun), Will Zilka of Blakeman Propane had appeared before the Town of Saratoga’s governing body to address any concerns the council may have had.

While the bulk propane storage facility proposed by Blakeman was outside town limits, it fell within the borders established by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Town of Saratoga and Carbon County.

During that meeting, both safety and aesthetics were concerns raised by the Saratoga Town Council. Following the discussion between Zilka and the council, the representative for Blakeman Propane requested the Town of Saratoga write a letter to the Board of Carbon County Commissioners stating that the company had been in attendance to address their concerns.

“The Town of Saratoga supports the business development. (They) Initially had aesthetic and traffic safety concerns and the location of the tank. They submitted a follow-up letter thanking Blakeman Propane for meeting with the town council on January 19,” said Marlin Johnson, county planning and zoning director. “In that letter, the town council expressed their satisfaction with the safety issue concerns and had no further comment on the mention of aesthetics.”

On January 19, while Councilmember Ben Spaulding had inquired about the safety protocols utilized by Blakeman Propane, Councilmember Jon Nelson was more concerned about the aesthetics. Referencing the 2016 Saratoga Master Plan, Nelson expressed concern about what was being encouraged to develop in one of two main corridors for Saratoga.

Commissioner Byron Barkhurst appeared to have similar concerns on March 2. While the questions from the other commissioners were few, Barkhurst had several including whether the two 30,000 gallon storage tanks would run parallel to Wyoming Highway 130 and what color they would be.

He also asked if Blakeman Propane had considered relocating the two storage tanks to the southwest corner of the property, noting that his suggestion was not safety based but aesthetic based.

Johnson noted that there was little discussion about relocating the bulk propane tanks and that there was no mention of relocation in the letter sent by the Town of Saratoga.

As discussion continued, Johnson noted a minor change in regards to the resolution that would adopt the Carbon County Planning and Zoning Board’s recommendation of approval. Under county zoning regulations, the minimum parcel size in areas zoned for Ranching Agriculture and Mining (RAM) is 35 acres. The parcel that the proposed bulk propane facility would be built on is 31.74 acres. The resolution, however, acknowledges that the parcel size is legal, pre-existing and non-conforming and the conditional use permit is consistent with the Zoning Resolution of 2015.

“I would like to publicly state that I recognize that all of the conditions of the applicant and the permit have been met and that there’s been no safety objections or anything of the nature. I did have a discussion with one landowner with respect to aesthetics. I know the old AmeriGas tanks were kind of east of Shively Hardware (Shively North) and the Feed Store (Saratoga Feed and Grain), kind of out of sight and out of mind,” said Barkhurst. “I just want to publicly state that my preference, personally, would have been maybe a location that was where it was out of sight and out of mind, so my vote today will reflect that.”

The resolution passed on a vote of 4-1 with Barkhurst providing the dissenting vote.

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on March 16 at the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins.